When you join the Commissioned Corps, you become a part of a dedicated team of professionals who work to improve the health of individuals, communities, and the Nation.
Meet some dietitian officers from the Commissioned Corps.
Captain Jean Makie
Dietitian, Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Drug and biological product development?
CAPT Jean Makie serves at the FDA?s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Office of Compliance and Biologics Quality, Advertising and Promotional Labeling Branch, ensuring that advertising and promotional materials for biological prescription products are not false or misleading, contain appropriate disclosure, and meet legal requirements. She also evaluates proposed proprietary names for new biologics to ensure that they are not false and misleading, fanciful, or similar in spelling or pronunciation to previously marketed proprietary product names. In addition, she contributes to the review of prescribing information so that it is acceptable from a promotional and comprehension perspective. CAPT Makie states, ?My current position provides a unique opportunity to protect, promote, and advance the public health and safety of our Nation by ensuring that advertising and promotional pieces for biologics contain accurate, truthful, and balanced risk-benefit information.? A Corps officer since 1990, she says, ?The greatest opportunity of the Corps is that your aspirations are only limited by your dreams and initiative. You control the future and where you want to go!?
Lieutenant Samantha Jean Interpreter
Dietitian, Indian Health Service
Providing nutrition education where it's most needed.
As a Native American, LT Samantha Jean Interpreter knows that proper nutrition is often far down on the list of concerns for people living in the Navajo community. LT Interpreter currently serves as the head of the nutrition department at the Inscription House Health Center near Kayenta, AZ, her hometown. Through her work, she provides outpatient nutrition education to patients of all ages—from infants to the elderly—who have a variety of health problems, including malnutrition and diabetes. She also undertakes a number of community programs to provide basic nutrition education, including using tools such as food labels, food models, and posters. LT Interpreter says she enjoys giving back to her community and serving as an example of what can be achieved through a career in public health.
Lieutenant Merel Kozlosky
Dietitian, National Institutes of Health
Cutting-edge nutrition research, patient care, teaching, and emergency preparedness.
LT Merel Kozlosky is the supervisory metabolic dietitian in the Nutrition Department of the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. She collaborates with investigators and multidisciplinary staff to plan, design, and implement research involving metabolic diets or nutrition interventions. She oversees research kitchen operations, teaches and manages interns, and uses advanced software to analyze nutrition data. She also provides clinical nutrition services, including advanced level nutrition support, to inpatient units and outpatient clinics. Her most exciting experience in the Corps was her deployment with the U.S. Navy, Royal British Navy, Canadian Defense Forces, and Japanese Maritime Defense Force on the USNS Comfort for the Combined Joint Medical Exercise 2006. LT Kozlosky says, "Serving in the Commissioned Corps is immensely rewarding in that I know I am contributing to improving the day-to-day health of the Nation. In addition, I am ready to aid those in need in a public health disaster situation."
Lieutenant Commander Samantha Maloney
Dietitian, Indian Health Service
Advancing nutritional health in routine and emergency situations.
In Anchorage, AK, LCDR Samantha Maloney oversees clinical nutrition therapy programs—managing staff and interns; promoting nutritional education; advising patients, families, and health care providers; participating in patient rounds; and teaching professional courses. LCDR Maloney appreciates her role as a public health provider who can deploy to the areas of the country, and the world, that most need her services. In response to Hurricane Rita, she was deployed to Texas, where she served displaced critical patients and nursing home residents at a Federal medical shelter. LCDR Maloney says, "Serving in the Corps is an awesome experience. There is such a feeling of fellowship. I make a real impact as a public health dietitian when our country faces such daunting problems as adult and pediatric obesity."
Commander Melissa Sanders
Dietitian, Health Resources and Services Administration
From clinical practice to national preparedness leadership.
CDR Melissa Sanders is the branch chief for HRSA's National Bioterrorism Hospital Preparedness Program—the first dietitian to hold this position or lead any national program for health care preparedness. This is but one example of the leadership opportunities and career versatility the Commissioned Corps offers. CDR Sanders collaborates with highly experienced preparedness professionals from several disciplines, including law enforcement, public safety, and fire rescue. It is interesting to note that during CDR Sanders's Commissioned Corps career, she has provided professional assistance at two Olympic games—in Atlanta in 1996 as a food service inspector, and then more recently as a preparedness advisor for the Olympics in Greece. "The Corps offers opportunities one could never imagine. It has been an amazing journey for me, and I am looking forward to the next 10 years," she says.
Commander Kristen Moe
Dietitian, Food and Drug Administration
Protecting the public from fraudulent remedies.
CDR Kristen Moe is an FDA compliance officer ensuring that food and dietary supplement labels display adequate nutrition information, and educating consumers about nutrition labeling. CDR Moe's work helps to protect the public by removing fraudulent dietary supplements from the market—bogus products which claim, among other things, to prevent and cure avian flu. She is also proud of her role as a nutrition counselor at the White House medical clinic. She appreciates having a job where she is able to serve the entire Nation. CDR Moe notes, "Everyone should serve in a way that fits their own personal values. I feel every day in the Commissioned Corps is a chance to contribute and serve my country."
If you are a student or dietitian/nutritionist interested in the Commissioned Corps, take the next step! E-mail us your questions, call us at 800-279-1605, or apply online now.